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Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire is a Italian kingdom centered around the fortress city of Constantinople, and spreading across the Turkish region. Once a part of the Roman Empire they have become arguably more powerful then their original Empire as they have been led affectively and expanded quite steadily since they were founded. Originally formed and governed by nobility from the Roman Empire. The two took part in a civil war which ended with Rome being pushed out of the Roman Asian Provinces. With the Roman Empire gone, the aristocrats from Rome that had taken part in the rebellion swiftly took control under the royal family of Constantine. This dynasty known as the Constantines came to dominate the capital of Constantine and from here they expanded to a larger area around the capital. At first they grew quickly because of the behavior their first Emperor had towards the Turkish which allowed them to take control of the regions dominated by the Turkish with little fight. Following this they would expand into Greece by taking control of this Roman Empire colony in the Battle of Greece. The Romans would flood troops into the region but they would be defeated at the climax of the conflict leading to the control of Greece by Byzantine. The Empire of Byzantine has grown from being nothing more then Sparta on Greece, and a few miles east of Constantinople to its current state where it controls much of Anatolia, and is also expanding westward into the lands of Croatia. The Empire of Byzantine has also expanded into the Mediterranean with the control they now have over the several client states there of which most noticeable is the Kingdom of Cyprus, and the Kingdom of Crete. The Lands of Byzantine are spread between the Italian sections of the capital, and the province of Greece, and the eastern half of the Empire which is dominated by the Ostrogoths and the Turks. The one place where everyone has similar views inside the Empire of Byzantine is the fact that nearly one hundred percent of the Empire is a Christian. Within this homogeneous grouping are a large number of distinct denominations of which the Italians have founded their own distinct church to separate themselves from the Romans, and this has become the state sanctioned religion in the form of the State Church of Byzantine. The Ostrogoth's have converted on mass to the Eastern Orthodox religion nearly completely in the form of the State Church of Byzantine but segments of their population fluctuation between Roman Catholic, and the main other denominations of the Empire of Nehekhara which have spread into Eastern Byzantine. The Byzantine Empire is utterly dominated by the Italians of whom founded the capital of Constantinople and have grown immensely in number inside this city, and to the west of the city. There is a larger number of Ostrogoths of whom constitute over thirty percent of the population of whom were brought into the Byzantine Empire by racist Italians who wanted to supplement the Turks with Ostrogoths as they were Germanic and thus more acceptable for the Italians. The native Turks have declined from a high population of somewhere around ninety nine percent all the way down to their current fifty five percent and they are still declining due to emigration, genocide, and faster growth in other groups. Following the Conflict with Nehekhara a large number of Armenians are now inside the northeastern section of Byzantine and they are treated as enemies of the state by the Ostrogoth's that dominate the military in this region. Geography Geography in the Byzantine Empire is one of the most important aspects of the entire Empire. The geography of the Byzantine Empire includes the eastern half of the Roman Empire, which consists of parts of North Africa, Greece, Italy, and even some territory in the Middle East. Geography had a large impact on the Byzantine Empire, for Byzantium is right alongside the Bosphorus River, the Black Sea, and the crossroads between Europe, Africa, and Asia. They may not seem relevant; however the geography in the Byzantine Empire effects the lives of many Byzantines. Because Constantinople was directly on the cross-roads between Asia, Africa, and Europe, wealth and riches were constantly flowing through the markets. Many of these exotic items can be found in only some places in the world, making them worth even more. Numerous trade routes, including the Silk Road run through Constantinople. All trade from Europe runs into Constantinople where it then moves east along the silk road eastward. Even the High Elves have come to trade in the port as they find it far easier to trade with then traversing the entirety of the world by going beneath Africanas. Accessibility to these items made people and the government very rich. No other market in all of Europe has such valuable goods, and merchandise, which is precisely the meaning why Constantinople, and its market should be a must see on your trip. 'History' Main Article : History of the Byzantine Empire Early History The Byzantine Empire was founded originally by the Roman Empire during the expansionist era of the Hardian Emperor and was known as the Byzantine province. The province basically consisted of a city in the form of Constantinople, and then large tracts of farm land to the west. The original goal of Hadrian was to place the city of Constantinople into a sort of position of being a satelite capital of Rome. In order to achieve the kind of bureaucracy necessary to facilitate this kind of power base, Hadrian had many of the aristocrats, and generals from Rome that were loyal to him sent to the city of Constantinople, and it was for this reason that House Constantine took their seat at Consantinople instead of Rome despite being the ruling dynasty of the Roman Empire. Constantine I. The first Emperor of the unified and independant Byzantine Empire, was Alexi Constantine I. Under Alexi's reign the Empire focused on internal issues, of which the main focus appeared to be the demographics. The Italians were once a very small minority in the area now controlled by the Byzantines. This began to change as Constantine I took a very pro-Italian stance towards the people. This situation nearly led to the majority group in the Turks rebelling against the Byzantines, but as the Italians luck would have it this was nearing the time of a later germanic migration. Ostrogoths The Ostrogoths were an offshoot group of Goths that had moved south east as opposed to moving towards Hispania or Rome. This eventually led them to Croatia where they had a lot of trouble with the local populations of which mainly this was Tilea. In Tilea the large group of Ostrogoths came under the sway of several large Ostrogoths houses of whome instigated a mass growth of Ostrogoths to them in Tilea. As their numbers reached into the hundreds of thousands they became the object of attacks from local Tilean forces and this would reach such a level that they retreated out of Tilea south where they would end up in the Byzantine province of Bulgaria. In the Ostrogoths Constantine I. saw an oppurtunity to resettle a large population of people that in appearance were quite close to the Italians. Constantine offered them residence in the eastern section of Byzantine called Anatolia. As he offered this to the Ostrogoths they were settling outside the city of Adrianople where the local mayor of the town was sending constant reports to Constantine about his fear of the massive horde of Ostrogoths outside his walls. The local mayor was preparing to assemble and army when Constantine arrived at the head of a large Byzantine force of which the Ostrogoths prepared to fight against the Byzantines but instead Constantine rode into the outskirts of their camp and met with the leaders of the Ostrogoths. Constantine made them very much aware of his hatred of the Turks and he wanted the Ostrogoths to settle in Anitolia and become the dominent group there. Conflict When the Ostrogoths arrived in Anatolia they were treated like kings by the ruling Italian elite, and they were quickly placed into positions of power in the regions. The Constantine Dynasty placed a huge amount of money in investments that would build up a large number of villages, towns and forts that would be settled by these Ostrogoths and also they set up training camps for the men of the Ostrogoths so that they would nearly instantly become a part of the Byzantine Army. Throught the work of the Bereau of Barbarians of whome made huge operations where they hired groups of Turks who would attack Ostrogoths and insight fear. As this continued to escalate they made the Italians appear to be their best friends when they mobilized a large force and defended the Ostrogoths, and after this the Bereau stopped the attacks and made it look like it was the Italians were the ones that stopped it. At the same time in order to make sure the two sides did not speak to eachother the Bereau did similar things to the Turks so that they would turn against the Ostrogoths and thus create hopefully a permenent conflict between the two groups. This system worked out brilliantly and at the time of Constantine I. death the two groups were nearly up in arms against eachother. Constantine II. If the turks had any hope it would be that Marcus Constantine II. would move away from the pro-Italian movement and instead preach harmony. This didn't happen and instead he moved closer to the movement and began also adding the Ostrogoths as the only non-Italians favored in the Empire. Constantine III. As a young boy Tony Constantine was a boysterous, loud child who didn't make friends easily. In this lonly time for him he found a companion in the young ostrogoth handmaiden to his mother named Natashia Nirtika. In Natashia he was menipulated into believing that the source of all the problems in his social life, and for that matter the reason the Empire wasn't growing as fast was because the Arabs were traitorous to the Empire. The Sons of Constantinople : "Its hard to say whether he always believed what he was saying about the Arabs, but one thing was for sure in that the people loved him for saying it. He brought about a nationalistic movement that grew so quickly and so massively that none of the powerful Arab members of the society could even react as they were pushed from their balconies and murdered in the streets." : -Unknown Italian living in Constantinople As anyone wants a person to blame instead of themselves this opinion became so ingrained in Tony's mind that when he was 18 he secretly formed an organization of individuals in Constantinople that hated Arabs as much as he did, and together he believes they may have removed nearly half the Arabs in Constantinople. At the same time he was removing Arabs he was bringing more and more Greeks from Sparta, and Athens to fill the population bubble. So in this way he practised his strategies for cultural elimination, and future plans of genocide for what he knew would be his practise during his rule. Moving Eastword : "All the previous movements had been preperation for the attack on the east. In the end what we had done before had led us to this moment, and the Nehekhara forces were wholefully unprepared for the forces I was willing to bring to bear against them." : -Tony Constantine The Empire of Nehekhara is without a doubt one of the largest empires in the entire world, and its size provides it one significant weakness. Because of its size it has such long borders that it can be easy to miss when one border is getting hot. On top of this their conflict with Ind, and their allies has led to the need for a massive build up on their eastern border, and the constant need for a massive force against Lahmia means that they are stretched thin on a lot of different borders. The border with Byzantine was basically the responsibility of the Armenians to defend, and they had been doing this against the rampaging hordes of Arabs and Turks that had in the past moved against the western border of Nehekhara. This time though the Armenians were caught in a massive trap as the Byzantines had placed a huge force of Ostrogoths directly in front of their border, while the main Byzantine army split in half with one half moving as well against the Armenians and the other against the lightly defended center of the border. Peace With the Armenians greatly damaged, and the garrison units on the Byzantine border in tatters the Sultan decided that he needed time to deal with the Indians, and Lahmians before he could do anything about the Byzantines. With the extreme position of advantage being in the Byzantine court they asked for a kings ransom in gold and materials in order to stop there advance. With no choice the Sultan agreed and gave the Byzantines everything they asked for. Post Peace At present there is a slight pause in the eastern expansion following the peace treaty between Byzantine and Nehekhara. While this is going on the Byzantines are expanding themselves in Greece, and Bulgaria and are massively fortifying themselves in Anatolia in preperation for the next war with Nehekhara . Demographics Ethnicity The Byzantine Empire is utterly dominated by the Italians of whom founded the capital of Constantinople and have grown immensely in number inside this city, and to the west of the city. Even with this domination they only constitute about ten percent of the population of the Empire but over ninety percent of Constantinople and similar numbers inside the Greece, and Bulgarian province. There is a larger number of Ostrogoths of whom constitute over thirty percent of the population of whom were brought into the Byzantine Empire by racist Italians who wanted to supplement the Turks with Ostrogoths as they were Germanic and thus more acceptable for the Italians. The native Turks have declined from a high population of somewhere around ninety nine percent all the way down to their current fifty five percent and they are still declining due to emigration, genocide, and faster growth in other groups. Following the Conflict with Nehekhara a large number of Armenians are now inside the northeastern section of Byzantine and they are treated as enemies of the state by the Ostrogoth's that dominate the military in this region. Italians The Italians were once a very small minority in the area now controlled by the Byzantines. This began to change as the Emperors of the Byzantine took a very pro-Italian stance towards the people. Each Emperor seemed to pass a law pushing the Italians into higher and higher fovor. This strategy has led to Italians being the majority of the population of Constantinople but their population is not numerous in regions other then Contantinople and Greece. Ostrogoths The Ostrogoths were brought into Anatolia or the eastern region of the Byzantine Empire as a strategy of removing the Turks, and this worked perfectly for the Emperors, Where once the Turks were almost 99% of the population they now constitute less then 40% and that number is declining rapidly Turkish Religion Main Article : Christianity See Also : State Church of Byzantine The one place where everyone has similar views inside the Empire of Byzantine is the fact that nearly one hundred percent of the Empire is a Christian. Within this homogeneous grouping are a large number of distinct denominations of which the Italians have founded their own distinct church to separate themselves from the Romans, and this has become the state sanctioned religion in the form of the State Church of Byzantine. The Ostrogoth's have converted on mass to the Eastern Orthodox religion nearly completely in the form of the State Church of Byzantine but segments of their population fluctuation between Roman Catholic, and the main other denominations of the Empire of Nehekhara which have spread into Eastern Byzantine. Population Goverment Main Article : Goverment of Byzantine The Byzantine Empire had a complex system of aristocracy and bureaucracy, which was inherited from the Roman Empire. At the apex of the pyramid stood the Emperor, sole ruler (autokrator) and divinely ordained, but beneath him a multitude of officials and court functionaries operated the administrative machinery of the Byzantine state. In addition, a large number of honorific titles existed, which the Emperor awarded to his subjects or to friendly foreign rulers. First Tier *Emperor (Basileus) : Second Tier *Exarchate : *Domestikos : *Magistros : Genikos Nikephorian Third Tier *Imperial Senate : *Imperial Palace : *Imperial Beareu : Emperor of Byzantine Main Article : Emperor of Byzantine The Emperor of Byzantine of the Basileus is the distinctly single handed leader of the Empire of Byzantine. Basileus (Greek: βασιλεύς ( Byzantine and Modern Greek pronunciation (help·info)), plural βασιλεῖς, basileis) is a Greek term and title that has signified various types of monarchs in history. It is perhaps best known in English as a title used by the Byzantine Emperors, but also has a longer history of use for persons of authority and sovereigns in ancient Greece, as well as for the kings of modern Greece. The female forms are Basílissa, Basíleia, Basilís, or the archaic Basilinna. Imperial Succession The Byzantine Empire practices Feudal Elective succession, all titles of the ruler pass to a single elected successor. The ruler and each lower rank vassal (e.g. dukes if the ruler is a king) can nominate a successor from among themselves and legitimate children and siblings of the ruler. In regards to gender laws the Byzantine Empire is Agnatic-Cognatic where in women can inherit but only if there are no eligible males. Exachos Exarchos – The exarchs were governors of remote parts of the empire such as Italy or Africa. They enjoyed a greater degree of independence than other provincial governors, combining both civil and military authority, practically acting as viceroys. Provincial Government The Themes or Themata (Greek: θέματα; singular θέμα, thema) were the main administrative divisions of the Byzantine Empire, and stand below the power of the Exarchate's in terms of governmental power. These provinces or Themes are dominated by their leadership, but the power of revoking titles still rests with the Emperor of Constantinople meaning that there is still a great amount of centralized power held by House Constantine. Byzantine Empire - Internal Politics.png|The Internal Themes of the Byzantine Empire Byzantine Empire - Internal Politics - Post Nehekhara War.png|The Internal Themes following the Byzantine victory against Nehekhara Military of Byzantine *''Domestikos'' – the domestikoi were originally Imperial Roman Guards, who later functioned as senior staff officers in the Byzantine period, and they are among the highest military offices, and include: **''Megas domestikos'' (Grand Domestic) – the overall commander of the army. **''Domestikos ton scholon'' (Domestic of the Schools) – the commander of the Scholai, originally a number of guards units, later a Tagma. This was a very prestigious title, and by the late 9th century, its holder functioned as commander in chief of the army. In ca. 959, the post was divided, with one domestic for the East and one for the West. **''Domestikos tou thematos'' (Domestic of the Themes) – the commander and organizer of the military themes; there was one for the European themes and one for Asian themes. *''Katepano'' – The governor of a greater area combining two or more themes, such as the Catepanate of Italy, a title developed in the 9th century. *''Stratēgos'' – a military and later also civil commander of a theme, who often also had the title of Dux. The term is basically equivalent to "general" or "admiral", as it was used in both branches of service. *''Tourmarches'' – the commander of a tourma, a military unit of battalion size. *''Protostrator'' – initially the Emperor's Stable Master, under the Komnenian and Palaiologan emperors the term was used for the second-ranking commander of the army. *''Stratopedarches'' (Master of the Camp) – This official was in charge of making sure the army was stocked with food and arms. *''Hoplitarchēs'' or archēgētēs – commander of all infantry in a large army, the title first appears in the mid-10th century, when the infantry is reorganized and gains in importance. *''Prōtokentarchos'' and kentarchos – commanders of a smaller division of the army in the field. The name was derived from the Latin centurion. *''Merarches'' – commander of a division (meros) of the army. Usually, each army was divided into two to three such commands. *''Taxiarchēs'' or chiliarchēs – commander of an infantry regiment (taxiarchia or chiliarchia) in the army. * Kavallarios – A title borrowed from the Latin caballarius, it originally meant a cavalry soldier. Navy of Byzantine *''Megas doux'' – The Megaduke or Grand Duke, was the basic equivalent of the modern Lord High Admiral. The office was created by Alexios I Komnenos, when he amalgamated the remnants of the imperial and thematic fleets into a single imperial fleet. By the end of the Palaiologos dynasty the megaduke was head of the government and bureaucracy, not just the navy. *''Amirales'' – The Greek version of "Admiral", introduced via Sicilian practice. An office founded in the late Palaiologan era for Western mercenary leaders and rarely held, the amirales was the deputy of the megas doux. *''Droungarios'' – The title existed both in the army and the navy. In the navy of the 8th–11th centuries, a droungarios headed a fleet, either the central imperial fleet or one of the thematic fleets; in the army he headed a Droungos, roughly a battalion-sized grouping. *''Komēs'' or droungarokomēs – The commander of a squadron of dromons. *''Kentarchos'' or Navarch – the captain of a ship. Other military titles *''Ethnarches'' – the ethnarch, commander of foreign troops. *''Hetaireiarches'' – the chief of the barbarian mercenaries, the Hetaireia, successor to the Foederati. Initially subdivided into Greater (Megalē), Middle (Mesē) and Little (Mikra) Hetaireia. *''Akolouthos'' – "Acolyte," the chief of the Varangian Guard from the Komnenian era onwards. *''Manglavitai'' – A category of palace guards, armed with sword and cudgel (manglavion). Under the command of a Prōtomanglavitēs. *''Topoteretes'' – meaning "place-holder", "lieutenant". Found at various levels of the hierarchy, as deputies to commanders of the imperial tagmata, deputy to a drungarios. Imperial Senate Culture Main Article : Culture of Byzantine Byzantine Art Just as the Byzantine Empire represented the political continuation of the Roman Empire, Byzantine art developed out of the art of the Roman Empire, which was itself profoundly influenced by ancient Greek art. Byzantine art never lost sight of this classical heritage. The Byzantine capital, Constantinople, was adorned with a large number of classical sculptures, although they eventually became an object of some puzzlement for its inhabitants. And indeed, the art produced during the Byzantine Empire, although marked by periodic revivals of a classical aesthetic, was above all marked by the development of a new aesthetic. The most salient feature of this new aesthetic was its “abstract,” or anti-naturalistic character. If classical art was marked by the attempt to create representations that mimicked reality as closely as possible, Byzantine art seems to have abandoned this attempt in favor of a more symbolic approach. Excubitors The Excubitors are an element of the Byzantine Army of which is responsible for the training and education of young nobles of whom join the Excubitors in order to prove their worth to the Emperor as well as for future potential. Byzantine Music Two concepts must be understood if we are to appreciate fully the function of music in Byzantine worship. The first, which retained currency in Greek theological and mystical speculation until the dissolution of the empire, was the belief in the angelic transmission of sacred chant: the assumption that the early Church united men in the prayer of the angelic choirs. This notion is certainly older than the Apocalypse account (Revelations 4:8-11), for the musical function of angels as conceived in the Old Testament is brought out dearly by Isaiah (6:1-4) and Ezekiel (3:12). Most significant in the fact, outlined in Exodus 25, that the pattern for the earthly worship of Israel was derived from heaven. The allusion is perpetuated in the writings of the early Fathers, such as Clement of Rome, Justin, Ignatius of Antioch Athenagoras of Athens and Pseudo-Dionysios the Areopagite. It receives acknowledgement later in the liturgical treatises of Nicolas Kavasilas and Symeon of Thessaloniki (Patrologia Graeca, CL, 368-492 and CLV, 536-699, respectively). Byzantine Clothing he Byzantines liked colour and pattern, and made and exported very richly patterned cloth, especially Byzantine silk, woven and embroidered for the upper classes, and resist-dyed and printed for the lower. A different border or trimming round the edges was very common, and many single stripes down the body or around the upper arm are seen, often denoting class or rank. Taste for the middle and upper classes followed the latest fashions at the Imperial Court. As in the West during the Middle Ages, clothing was very expensive for the poor, who probably wore the same well-worn clothes nearly all the time; this meant in particular that any costume owned by most women needed to fit throughout the full term of a pregnancy. Foreign Relations Main Article : Byzantine Diplomacy Byzantine diplomacy drew its neighbors into a network of international and interstate relations, controlled by the empire itself. This process revolved around treaty making. Byzantine historian Evangelos Chrysos postulates a three-layered process at work: 1) the new ruler was welcomed into the family of kings, 2) there was an assimilation of Byzantine social attitudes and values, 3) as a formalization of the second layer of the process, there were laws Roman Empire Kingdom of Cyprus The Kingdom of Cyprus and Byzantines have always had a good trading relationship, and communicated quite positively for their history. Cyprus was basically annexed by the Byzantines during the reign of Constantine IV. and now sits in a position of great favor among the provinces. Nehekhara The two sides had a frosty relationship for most of their history, but this changed dramatically with the current Emperor who declared war on the overstretched Nehekhara Empire. Armenia The Byzantines and the Nehekhara client state of Armenia have been at war since the two shared a border. Category:Kingdoms of Europe Category:Kingdoms of Asia Category:Kingdoms Category:Empire